Amazing sniper shots recorded in Afghanistan:

A BRITISH Army sniper has set a new sharpshooting distance record by

killing two Taliban machinegunners in Afghanistan from more than 1 miles away.

Craig Harrison, a member of the Household Cavalry, killed the insurgents

with consecutive shots — even though they were 3,000ft beyond the most

effective range of his rifle.

“The first round hit a machinegunner in the stomach and killed him

outright,†said Harrison, a Corporal of Horse. “He went straight down and didn’t

move.

“The second insurgent grabbed the weapon and turned as my second shot

hit him in the side. He went down, too. They were both dead.â€

The shooting — which took place while Harrison’s colleagues came under

attack — was at such extreme range that the 8.59mm bullets took almost three

seconds to reach their target after leaving the barrel of the rifle at

almost three times the speed of sound.

The distance to Harrison’s two targets was measured by a GPS system at

8,120ft, or 1.54 miles. The previous record for a sniper kill is

7,972ft, set by a Canadian soldier who shot dead an Al-Qaeda gunman in March

2002.

The first shot was remarkable, but taking down two at that distance? Incredible.

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Incredible indeed. Perhaps too incredible?

 

I do not want to take anything away from the good Corporal, because goodness knows a well trained sniper can push the boundaries of his rifle. (Heck, any recreational or competitive target shooter looks to do that, myself included). And its not about the fact that a Canadian (and a Newfoundlander to boot) held the previous record (informally at least) with a 0.50 cal.

 

The .338 Lapua Magnum is an excellent cartridge, and the L115 an excellent rifle, but this claim is pushing the boundaries of the possible. I have a strong suspicion that the actual range was considerably less than 8,120 feet as claimed.

 

The claimed time of flight (3 seconds), for example, does not match the muzzle velocity of the .338LM round.

 

Moreover, the amount of elevation necessary to hit a target at the claimed range is probably beyond the capability of the standard issue Schmidt & Bender 5-25x56 PM II LP telescopic sight and its rail mount system.

Moreover, the amount of elevation necessary to hit a target at the claimed range is probably beyond the capability of the standard issue Schmidt & Bender 5-25x56 PM II LP telescopic sight and its rail mount system.

 

Credit where credit is due. It appears that although the claimed range is in fact beyond the range of the scope and mount, it isn't by much when you factor in the elevation of the area in which this occurred and the apparent fact that the British Army uses 'hot' loads in their .338LM ammunition.

 

So, with a little bit of holdover and some combined luck and skill, hits are not beyond reasonable possibility. Three hits for three shots is still quite amazing, but probably we should give this soldier the benefit of the doubt.